Four people were arrested Friday after a car chase in Rhinelander that began with a report of men shooting a firearm over Boom Lake and ended only after officers used a PIT maneuver on Highway 8 near Beaver Creek Road.

The Rhinelander Police Department said officers were called at 1:48 p.m. to Hodag Park near the boat landing. As police responded, the men left in a red Chevy Cruze and the chase began. It was cut off once when it reached the downtown area because of safety concerns for the community, then picked up again after officers found the vehicle on Highway 17 and County Highway P. The car later came back into the city on Lincoln Street, where the pursuit was again stopped for public safety.

What followed was a rolling pursuit across the city and beyond it. The driver made several turns in an attempt to get away, but officers kept following. The chase restarted along Lincoln Street, moved east through Rhinelander and then out of town on County Highway P. During that stretch, shots were fired from the vehicle at officers. The driver then turned east onto Highway 8 and continued at a high rate of speed before slowing enough for officers to carry out the PIT maneuver.

The arrests came without any further incidents, and police said there is no ongoing threat or danger to the public. That is the key point after a sequence that could have turned worse quickly: officers ended the chase twice, not because they lost sight of the car, but because they decided the risk to bystanders was too high in the downtown area and again on Lincoln Street. The vehicle’s repeated reappearance, and the shots fired during the pursuit, are now central to the investigation.

The case remains under investigation, with the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office and Wisconsin State Patrol assisting. For now, the immediate question has been answered in the safest way available to police: the four people are in custody, the chase is over, and the public is not considered to be in danger.